Page 13 of Firecracker

Norton turned back to Arden. “Hey, Arden. Feel my T-shirt. Know what it’s made of?”

She slanted a look at Tyler, then back at Norton without moving a hand. “What?”

He grinned. “Boyfriend material.”

She grinned, nodding. “Good one.”

“That’s mysister, Norton,” Jamie said. “Cool it.”

“Right, right. So. What are we up to today?” Norton drummed his hands on the table as if playing a bongo. “Maybe some beach volleyball?”

“Sure.” Tyler shoved his glasses on top of his head and sat forward. “That’d be fun. I was thinking that too.”

“Let’s finish our drinks,” Mila said. “Except we’re an odd number now.”

Jamie looked around. “Pretty sure I can find one more person…oh, there she is.”

Mila frowned. “Who?”

“I don’t know her yet.” Jamie grinned. “But I will. Be right back.”

Mila snorted and watched him stand and stroll over to a blonde at the bar in a turquoise bikini.

“I guess it’s easy to pick up chicks when you’re loaded,” Norton said, and the dejected tone of his voice tugged at Arden’s heart strings.

“I doubt that was his opening line, dude,” Tyler said mildly. “Pretty sure he didn’t go up to her and say, ‘Hey, I’m rich, wanna play beach volleyball with me?’”

Arden laughed and met Tyler’s eyes. “Oh, who knows,” she said. “I never thought Jamie was particularly skilled with women.”

“You’ve obviously been away for a while.” Tyler grinned at her, and holy hotness, she felt that smile all the way into her bikini bottom. She blinked and quickly sipped her daiquiri.

“Your brother’s all growed up.” Mila winked. “Chicks dig him.”

Norton sighed. The waitress arrived with his drink, and he took it and gulped half of it down.

Arden was now realizing why they’d warned her about Norton. She could see how he could get on your nerves. But she remembered Tyler saying he had a good heart, and they apparently kept including him in their activities, and that was kind of…nice.

She relaxed a little more, grateful to Jamie for letting her stay in the apartment and for having these friends who were so welcoming to her. They were good people. She had problems in her life she had to deal with, and she would. But for now, she was going to have fun this sunny Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

“I could have called my friend Emma,” she said. “Then we would have been six.”

“Is she hot?” Norton asked.

Tyler shook his head but Arden grinned. “Yes. She is.”

“How is Emma?” Tyler asked. “That’s Emma Malone, right?”

“Right.” She and Emma had been best friends in high school. Emma stillwasher best friend; Arden had stayed in touch with some friends from college, but after moving across the country, she’d drifted apart from a lot of people. Everyone else seemed to be living the dream, with great jobs, marriage, beautiful houses and families, and when Arden had been going through hard times, nobody seemed very interested in that. Everyone wanted to know the pro ballplayer’s wife but didn’t seem to care too much about the destitute widow. She didn’t blame them. Who wanted to log onto Facebook and read someone’s whiny complaints every day? Not that Arden did that. She didn’t evenwantpeople to know how crappy things had gotten. But that had made it hard to maintain real relationships with some people.

Except for Emma. Emma was her one, true, steadfast friend, and even though they didn’t see each other that often, they’d stayed in touch. Emma was the one person with whom she’d been honest about what was happening in her life, and she was so looking forward to living in the same city as her again and picking up their friendship.

“She’s good, I think. I haven’t seen her for quite a while, but we keep in touch online. She’s a hedge fund manager. Very career oriented.”

“I like a career woman,” Norton said.

Tyler smiled, shaking his head. His amusement at Norton wasn’t mean; it was more affectionate. And that gave Arden a warm feeling in her chest.

Jamie returned and introduced Tiffany.

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